Temporary repairs – including buttressing – are to be undertaken on the wall in Church Street in front of the war memorial. The concrete blocks will, sadly, remain in place for the time being to protect members of the public from any falling masonry.
It had been hoped that a more permanent solution could be found with support from Advantage West Midlands, and the wall rebuilt at a cost of £2 million.
However, as a result of the demise of the regional development agency, new ways of tackling the problem will have to be sought.
Options being considered include reducing the height of the wall with a section of the historic brickwork being retained, Criblock or Gabions (see illustrations). These options will be cheaper and provide a potential solution, but, nevertheless are costly in themselves.
No decisions have been arrived at as yet and given the present state of public finance it may be some time before a permanent solution is arrived at.